Takeda Shingen


Takeda Shingen was a Japanese daimyō of Kai Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō of the late Sengoku period and was credited with exceptional military prestige. Shingen was based in a poor area with little arable land and no access to the sea, but he became one of Japan's leading daimyō. His skills are highly esteemed and on par with Mōri Motonari.

Name

Shingen's childhood names were Tarō, marking him as the eldest son, and Katsuchiyo. After his genpuku, he was given the formal name Harunobu, which included a character from the name of Ashikaga Yoshiharu, the twelfth shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate. It was a common practice in feudal Japan for a higher-ranking samurai to bestow a character from his own name to his inferiors as a symbol of recognition. From jizamurai's perspective, it was an honour to receive a character from the shogunate, although the authority of the latter had greatly degenerated by the mid-16th century.
Both the Ashikaga and the Takeda descended from the Minamoto clan. Technically, Harunobu, as well as his forefathers, had borne the surname of Minamoto. Therefore, Harunobu is referred to as Minamoto no Harunobu in official records kept by the Imperial Court when he was conferred the official title of Master of the Palace Table. The Imperial Court had maintained a ritsuryō system parallel to the shogunate apparatus.
In February 1559, Harunobu chose to live a pravrajyā, from his Buddhist teacher. This pronunciation follows the on'yomi system of Chinese loanwords. However, the same kanji can also be read as "Nobuharu" using the kun'yomi system, which is the inversion of his official name, Harunobu. In ancient times, such religious names of recognized kuge were pronounced according to the on'yomi system rather than the kun'yomi one. Although widely known by his dharma name, Shingen's formal name remained Harunobu throughout his life.
Shingen is sometimes referred to as the "Tiger of Kai" for his martial prowess on the battlefield. His primary rival, Uesugi Kenshin, was often called the "Dragon of Echigo or the "Tiger of Echigo". They fought several times in the Battles of Kawanakajima.

Early life and rise

Shingen was the first-born son of Takeda Nobutora, leader of the Takeda clan, and daimyō of the province of Kai. He had been an accomplished poet in his youth. He assisted his father with the older relatives and vassals of the Takeda clan, and became a valuable addition to the clan at a fairly young age. In 1536, at the age of 15, he was instrumental in helping his father win the Battle of Un no Kuchi.
At some point in his life after his coming-of-age ceremony, Shingen decided to rebel against his father, Takeda Nobutora. He succeeded in 1540, successfully taking control of the clan. Events regarding this change of leadership are not entirely clear, but it is thought that Nobutora had planned to name his second son, Takeda Nobushige, as his heir instead of Shingen. The result was a miserable retirement that was forced upon him by Shingen and his supporters: he was sent to Suruga Province, on the southern border of Kai, to be kept in custody under the scrutiny of the Imagawa clan, led by his son-in-law Imagawa Yoshimoto, the daimyō of Suruga. For their help in this bloodless coup, an alliance was formed between the Imagawa and the Takeda clans.

Takeda campaigns

Shinano campaign

Shingen's first act was to gain a hold of the area around him. His goal was to conquer Shinano Province. A number of the major warlords in the Shinano region marched on the border of Kai Province, hoping to neutralize the power of the still young Shingen before he had a chance to expand into their lands. However, planning to beat him down at Fuchu, they were unprepared when Takeda forces suddenly came down upon them at the Battle of Sezawa. Taking advantage of their confusion, Shingen was able to win a quick victory, which set the stage for his drive into Shinano lands that same year and his successful Siege of Uehara. The young warlord made considerable advances into the region, conquering the Suwa clan's headquarters in the Siege of Kuwabara, before moving into central Shinano with the defeat of both Tozawa Yorichika and Takato Yoritsugu in the Siege of Fukuyo and the Battle of Ankokuji. In 1543, he captured Nagakubo Castle, Kojinyama Castle in 1544, and then Takatō Castle and Ryūgasaki Castle in 1545. In 1546 he took Uchiyama Castle and won the Battle of Odaihara, and in 1547, he took Shika Castle.
In 1548, Shingen defeated Ogasawara Nagatoki in the Battle of Shiojiritoge and then took Fukashi Castle in 1550. However, the warlord was checked at Uedahara by Murakami Yoshikiyo, losing two of his generals in a heated battle which Murakami won. Shingen managed to avenge this loss and the Murakami clan was eventually defeated in the sieges of Toishi. Murakami fled the region, eventually coming to plead for help from the Echigo Province.
In 1553, he captured the castles of Katsurao, Wada, Takashima and Fukuda, and in 1554, he took the took the castles of Fukushima, Kannomine, Matsuo.

Conflict with Uesugi

After conquering Shinano Province, Shingen faced another rival, Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province. The feud between them became legendary, and they faced each other on the battlefield five times in the Battles of Kawanakajima.
File:Sengoku period battle.jpg|thumb|Depiction of the legendary personal conflict between Uesugi Kenshin and Shingen at the fourth Battle of Kawanakajima
These battles were generally confined to controlled skirmishes, with neither daimyō willing to devote himself entirely to a single all-out attempt. The battle between the two that had the fiercest fighting, and might have decided victory or defeat for one side or the other, was the fourth battle, during which the famous tale arose of Kenshin's forces clearing a path through the Takeda troops and Kenshin engaging Shingen in single combat. The tale has Kenshin attacking Shingen with his sword while Shingen defends with his iron war fan. Both lords lost many men in this fight, and Shingen in particular lost two of his leading generals, Yamamoto Kansuke and his younger brother Takeda Nobushige.
After the fourth Battle of Kawanakajima, the Takeda clan suffered two internal setbacks. Shingen uncovered two plots on his life, the first from his cousin Suwa Shigemasa, and the second, a few years later, from his own son Takeda Yoshinobu. His son was confined to Tōkō Temple, where he died two years later. It is unknown whether his death was natural or ordered by his father.
After this incident, Shingen designated his fourth son, Takeda Katsuyori, as the acting assistant clan leader until Katsuyori's son came of age.

Kōzuke campaign

In 1563, Shingen allied with Hōjō Ujiyasu, and helped Ujiyasu capture Matsuyama Castle in Musashi Province. In 1565, Shingen then took Kuragano Castle and Minowa Castle in Kōzuke Province.
In 1571, Uesugi Kenshin had advanced to Kōzuke and attacked the satellite castle of Shingen's, Ishikura Castle. Both forces met each other in the Battle of Tonegawa, but eventually disengaged after a well-fought fight.

Suruga campaign

The death of Takeda Yoshinobu is believed to have much to do with the change in Shingen's policy towards the Imagawa clan. After Imagawa Yoshimoto's death in the Battle of Okehazama against Oda Nobunaga in 1560, Shingen made an alliance with the Oda and the Tokugawa clans, and started to plan an invasion of Suruga Province, a territory now controlled by Yoshimoto's son, Ujizane. Yoshinobu, however, had strongly opposed such a plan because his wife was the daughter of Yoshimoto. By 1567, nonetheless, after Shingen had successfully kept the forces led by Uesugi Kenshin out of the northern boundaries of Shinano Province, taken over a strategically important castle in western Kōzuke, and suppressed internal objection to his plans to take advantage of the weakened Imagawa clan, he was ready to carry out his planned Suruga invasion. Shingen and Tokugawa Ieyasu came to terms and occupied the former Imagawa territory. They both fought against Yoshimoto's heir, Imagawa Ujizane.
During this time, Shingen also ordered the damming project of the Fuji River, which was one of the major domestic activities of the time.

Predicament

The Suruga invasion angered Hōjō Ujiyasu. After confirming that the Takeda and Hōjō alliance had collapsed, Tokugawa Ieyasu gave up on the Takeda clan, and approached the Uesugi and Hōjō clans. As a consequence, Shingen was in a difficult situation with enemies on three sides. In such a predicament, Shingen asked his ally Oda Nobunaga for help. Nobunaga soothed Ieyasu and mediated reconciliation between the Takeda and Uesugi clans. Thanks to Nobunaga's efforts, Shingen was able to escape from the predicament.

Conflict with Hōjō

In 1568, as a response to Hōjō intervention in his invasion of Suruga Province, Shingen broke his alliance with the Hōjō clan, and came into Musashi Province from his home province of Kai, attacking Takiyama Castle. He then moved against the Hōjō by attacking Hachigata Castle, then engaged in the Siege of Odawara (1569). He burned the castle town of Odawara Castle, then successfully withdrew after Hōjō Ujiteru and Hōjō Ujikuni failed to stop him in the Battle of Mimasetoge.
After defeating the intervention forces commanded by Hōjō Ujimasa of Sagami Province, Shingen finally secured the Suruga Province, formerly base of the prestigious Imagawa clan, as a Takeda asset in 1569.
At this point, Shingen now had Kai Province, Shinano Province, the western part of Kōzuke Province, Musashi Province and Suruga Province.

Conflict with the Oda–Tokugawa alliance

By the time Shingen was 49 years old, he was the only daimyō with the necessary power and tactical skills to stop Oda Nobunaga's rush to rule Japan.
Shingen believed that the "Nobunaga Encirclement Plan" was functioning to some extent, and he judged that if he joined, he could drive the Oda clan to ruin. Upon learning that the Takeda clan had joined the "Nobunaga Encirclement Plan", Uesugi Kenshin sent a letter to his retainers stating, "Shingen has poked his hand into a hornet's nest. He is finished. This is fortunate for our Uesugi clan."
In 1572, after the Takeda had secured control over Suruga, northern Shinano, and western Kōzuke, forces of Shingen under the command of Akiyama Nobutomo advanced into Mino Province, and took the Oda's Iwamura Castle, which caused the Takeda–Oda relationship to decline. Later, Shingen engaged Tokugawa Ieyasu's forces and captured the Tokugawa's Futamata Castle.
In 1573, Shingen decided to make a drive for Kyoto at the urging of the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki. While seeking a route from Kōfu to Kyoto, Shingen moved to challenge the Oda–Tokugawa alliance in the Battle of Mikatagahara, the most famous battle of Shingen's campaigns, and one of the best demonstrations of his cavalry-based tactics. It was also one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's worst defeats, and complete disaster was only narrowly averted. Shingen stopped his advance temporarily due to outside influences, which allowed the Tokugawa clan to prepare for battle again. Shingen later led a formidable force of over 30,000 men into Mikawa Province.

Death

Once he entered Mikawa Province in 1573, Shingen besieged Noda Castle, but on May 13, 1573, he died at the age of 51. The exact circumstances surrounding his death are unknown. Some accounts say he succumbed to an old war wound, some say a sniper had wounded him earlier, and others that he died of pneumonia. He was buried at Erin-ji temple in what is now Kōshū, Yamanashi.
After Shingen's death, Takeda Katsuyori became the daimyō of the Takeda clan. Katsuyori was ambitious and wanted to continue his father's legacy. He moved to take Tokugawa forts. However, an allied force of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga dealt a crushing blow to the Takeda in the Battle of Nagashino, when Nobunaga's matchlock-armed infantry destroyed the Takeda cavalry. Nobunaga and Ieyasu seized the opportunity to defeat the weakened Takeda clan led by Katsuyori. Later, in the Battle of Tenmokuzan, Katsuyori committed suicide after the battle and the Takeda clan never recovered.

Legacy

Upon Shingen's death, Uesugi Kenshin reportedly wept at the loss of one of his strongest and most deeply-respected rivals. However, historian Kazuto Hongō viewed that despite the advantage of advanced military doctrines and administration systems established by Shingen, his efforts failed to prosper the Takeda clan. Hongō stressed the failure of the Takeda clan during Shingen's rule to build a war economy, as he examines that with the 20 years of Shingen's conquest to subjugate Shinano Province, together with his series of exhausting engagements against his rival Uesugi Kenshin, Shingen only managed to secure territories which yielded a gross annual rice production of 600,000 koku as revenue at most, which meant that the Takeda clan could mobilize at maximum only 20,000 soldiers for each campaign. In contrast with Oda Nobunaga, where his possession of Mino Province could produce at least 650,000 Koku annually, combined with his later provinces, meant that he could mobilize approximately twice as many soldiers as Shingen. Furthermore, while the Takeda controlled only landlocked provinces, Nobunaga had access to the rich and prosperous port city of Sakai, which meant that Nobunaga could afford military technologies and exotic supplies for his war machine far better than that of Shingen.
One of the most lasting tributes to Shingen's prowess was that of Tokugawa Ieyasu himself, who is known to have borrowed heavily from the late Takeda leader's governmental and military innovations after he had taken leadership of Kai Province during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's rise to power. There are two notable moments of the incorporation of Takeda elements into the Tokugawa clan regime. The first was during the Tenshō-Jingo war between Ieyasu and the Hōjō clan at the aftermath of the death of Oda Nobunaga. Ieyasu hid many Takeda followers from Nobunaga, who called for their deaths. Those Takeda vassals immediately declared their allegiance to Ieyasu when the Hōjō and Uesugi clans invaded Kai and Shinano, where at least 800 former Takeda retainers joined the ranks of the Tokugawa army during the war and fought the Hōjō. At the aftermath of the war, Ieyasu immediately organized a kishōmon ceremony with the former Takeda vassals to declare their loyalty to the Tokugawa clan, which resulted in:
  • 70 former Takeda samurai from the Tsuchiya clan under the command of Ii Naomasa, when Oda Nobunaga sent Takeda Katsuyori's head to Ieyasu, Ieyasu remarked in front of the former Takeda followers that although Katsuyori was a biological son of Shingen, Ieyasu was the "spiritual successor" of Shingen.

    Retainers

During the Edo period, the 24 retainers who served under Shingen were a popular topic for ukiyo-e and bunraku. The names vary from work to work and the following list is the widely agreed version of retainers. They had not all worked together, as some had died before others served, but they were noted for their exceptional contributions to Shingen and the Takeda clan.
Of his retainers, Kōsaka Masanobu stands out as being one of Shingen's better known beloveds, in the style of the Japanese shudō tradition. The two entered into the relationship when Shingen was 22 and Masanobu was 16. The love pact signed by the two, in Tokyo University's historical archive, documents Shingen's pledge that he was not involved in, nor had any intentions of entering into, a sexual relationship with a certain other retainer, and asserts that "since I want to be intimate with you" he will in no way harm the boy, and calls upon the gods to be his guarantors.
Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen
Other Generals
Lasting three days, the Shingen-ko Festival is held annually on the first or second weekend of April in Kōfu, Yamanashi Prefecture to celebrate the legacy of Shingen. In the lunar calendar, Shingen died on the 12th day of the 4th month, and so April 12 is celebrated as the anniversary of his death. Usually, a famous Japanese celebrity plays the part of Shingen. There are several parades going between the Takeda Shrine and Kofu Castle reflecting the various comings and goings of Shingen during his life.
The parades are very theatrical, involving serious re-enactors who practice all year for this one weekend.

Family